Embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a data receiver device including built-in self-test functionality, and to a related method thereof.
A built-in self-test (BIST) is a test in which a chip itself determines whether it has an operational fault. BIST functionality is considered essential to verify the performance of chips developed in mass production. The BIST may examine a bit error rate (BER), a frequency, and other operational parameters of a chip.
BIST functionality of a chip is obtained by integrating BIST function blocks into the chip. At this time, implementation of the BIST function blocks differs depending on whether the chip is a transceiver chip including both a transmitter and a receiver, a chip including only a transmitter, or a chip including only a receiver.
In the cases of a transceiver chip and a chip including only a transmitter, the BIST function blocks can be integrated without increasing the area of the chip. On the other hand, in the case of a chip including only a receiver (i.e., a receiver chip), the integration of the BIST function blocks is not feasible or is too costly in terms of chip area and design resources.
As such, to achieve BIST functionality for a receiver chip, a transmitter including a transmitter phase-locked loop (PLL), a serializer, and an output driver may be mounted in the receiver chip. The PLL of the transmitter in particular includes multiple unit blocks and occupies a large area. As such, since the transmitter PLL is unrelated to the original functionality of the receiver chip, its integration creates an expenditure of design labor resources and increases a chip area.
Alternatively, the transmitter may be installed external the receiver chip, and the BIST may be performed through communication between the transmitter and the receiver. In this case, the provision of additionally designed blocks may be avoided, but the receiver itself cannot perform testing, and the testing is performed at a package level rather than a wafer level. Moreover, the cost of testing increases in mass production.